Urgent.. The ISM index for purchasing managers in the services sector in the United States is below expectations.

The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) released its services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) data for January on Wednesday, which came out negative and below market expectations. The data showed that the services PMI recorded 52.8 points, which was lower than the expected reading of 54.3 points. The previous reading had recorded 54.0 points in December, after being revised from 54.1 points.

At the same time, the ISM data indicated that the services sector price PMI recorded 60.4 points in January, while the December reading was 64.4 points. Additionally, the employment index for the services sector recorded 52.3 points in January, down from 51.3 points in December, according to the ISM data.

It is worth noting that this index includes surveys from over 600 purchasing managers to gauge the relative level of business conditions, which encompass employment, production, new orders, prices, delivery of resources, and inventory levels. Its direct impact on the currency is strong; generally, if the actual value of the index when released is higher than expected, it is considered good news for the currency, and vice versa if it is lower than expected.